We all have values that we live by either consciously or subconsciously. Be it compassion, honesty, integrity or even selfishness and greed.While some values can be considered negative, most people endeavour to be decent human beings. That raises the question that 'is having a good value set enough to be considered a good person?' I think not, unless one of your values is courage, which is the single most important aspect of life.
An individual may be as compassionate as Mother Teresa, as innocent as a child and have incredible integrity. These values are not worth much without the person being courageous also. Seeing someone being bullied may lead to emotions of sadness and empathy confirming a person's moral compass pointing in the right direction. That by itself, however, is fairly useless until they can muster enough courage to step in and do something about the situation.
Our values often land us in situations where we get the uneasy feeling but a lack of courage prevents us from speaking up or acting. But it is only by being courageous we can bring out positive change and much needed calm into this world. People like Aung San Suu Kyi and Martin Luther King Jr. have paved the way for us to be courageous. They have shown us that knowing something is wrong and agreeing that it is wrong is not enough, you need to act on that. By having a good value set which is backed up by ample courage, we can lead not only the masses but more importantly ourselves into self-righteousness, spiritual fulfilment and who knows... greatness?
The point is - be courageous. A new year has started, and the world is showing no sign of becoming a calm and peaceful place. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, ISIS, gun violence in the USA, terrorism in Europe, North Korea's Hydrogen bomb. The most intelligent species on earth is not looking very intelligent. We can change all of that by simply being courageous. Start the hard, deep conversations on a Friday night out with friends. Talk about the issues facing us at family gatherings. Get educated and then have the courage to educate others.
Only we, the normal people, can fix the world by being courageous. Sounds far fetched? So did civil rights for Blacks all those years ago and... we just had a black man in the white house.